Fastener means



Jan. 31, 1961 1T, BLAKE 2,969,574

FASTENER MEANS Filed Aug. 15, 1958 INVENTOR John T B lake 1 7 V 1 TTORNEY United States Patent FASTENER MEANS John T. Blake, Wolcott, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 755,325

2 Claims. (Cl. 24-219) This invention relates to fastening means for closure tabs or straps of purses, billfolds, key cases and other such flexible receptacles.

In receptacles of the above type, the tabs or straps, due to repeated use, often become curled up or the outer surface of the flap material becomes cracked and soiled, thereby presenting an unsightly appearance. Also, the strap material will sometimes become so weakened that the fastener member attached thereto will become detached therefrom.

It is an object of this invention to provide a protective and decorative clip for the strap or tab end which will prevent soiling and cracking and at the same time, provide a reinforcement for the strap where the fastener member is attached.

Another object is to make such an ornamental and reinforcing clip cheaply from a single piece of fiat metal and to hold it in place only by the attaching means of one of the elements of a snap fastener member.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a billfold in closed position showing the closure strap provided with a snap fastener element and protective clip embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the closure strap slightly separated from the upper surface of the billfold;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the terminal end of the closure strap with the protective clip and fastener element attached;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the terminal end of the closure strap showing the inner side with the protective clip and fastener element attached thereto; and,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the protective clip, per se, as it appears before assembly to the closure strap.

Referring now to the drawings, thenumeral indicates generally a billfold having upper and lower walls 11 and 12 respectively. Attached to the upper wall 11 adjacent the end is one element of a two-piece snap fastener member which in this case is a resilient socket element 14. The socket 14 is attached by inserting it through a hole in the upper wall 11 and expanding the socket into a suitable cap member 15 thereby firmly gripping the billfold material between the socket flange 16 and the cap member 15.

Attached to one end of the lower wall 12 of the billfold 10 is a closure strap 18 that extends around the end of said billfold and normally overlies the upper wall 11 thereof. In order to protect and ornament the free end of the strap 18, the latter is covered with a protective clip 20. The clip 20 is preferably the same width as the strap 18 and is a single piece of flat sheet material such as metal folded around the end of said strap. As seen in the longitudinal cross-sectional view of Fig. 3, the clip 20 has a long outer flat section 21 overlying the outer surface of the strap 18 and a short inner fiat section 22 underlying the inner surface of said strap, said outer flat section 21 ice and said inner flat section 22 being joined by a fold that is adapted to abut against the end of the strap 18. When the clip 20 is anchored to the strap 18 by a single stud member 25, the fact that the fold abuts the end of the stud will prevent twisting of said clip relative to said strap. A hole 23 is formed in the center of the outer section 21 of clip 20 which is adapted to line up with another hole 24 in the strap 18.

The complemental snap fastener part for the socket element 14 described above is the stud member 25 and post member 26. The post 26 is provided with the usual flange 27 which may be covered by a decorative cap 28, the flange 27 and cap 28 constituting the head of the post which is adapted to bear against the outer surface of the fiat section 21 when the post 26 is passed through the holes 23 and 24 and attached in the usual manner to the stud member 25. The stud member 25 is provided with the usual flange 25a firmly engaged against the underside of the strap 18. The inner flat section 22 of the clip 20 on the inner side of the strap 18 is provided with an arcuate cut-out recess 30 to provide clearance around the flange 25a of the stud member 25 so that said stud flange bears against the inner side of the strap 18 independent of said inner flat section.

When the billfold is in closed position, the strap 18 may be wrapped around the adjacent end of the billfold 10 and overlie the upper wall 11 and detachably secured thereto by axially forcing the stud member 25 into the socket member 14. It will be seen that a single snap fastener not only provides a suitable detachable connection between the strap 18 and the outer wall 11 of the billfold 10 but the same post used to attach the stud element 25 also provides a means of permanently attaching a protective clip to the free end of said closure strap.

While only one form of the invention is disclosed, it should be understood that the invention may embody other details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. Fastening means for securing the end of a flexible strap or the like to an adjacent wall portion of an article comprising a first snap fastener element spaced from the end of the strap adapted to have mating engagement with a second or complemental snap fastener element on said wall portion, a rigid one-piece clip of the same width as said strap covering and reinforcing the end of the strap, said clip having an apertured outer flat section overlying the strap and a relatively short inner fl'at section underlying the strap, said outer section joined to said inner section by a fold in abutted relation with the end of said strap to prevent twisting of said clip relative to said strap, and fastener element attaching means extending through the aperture in said outer flat section and through said strap whereby said clip is held in place on the strap by the fastener element attaching means.

2. Fastening means as defined in claim 1 wherein said clip is a piece of flat metal folded around the end of the strap and providing an inner flat section underlying the strap and extending to about the center line of said first snap fastener element, said inner flat section of the clip having a recess partially surrounding the said first snap fastener element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 404,862 Rabitte June 11, 1889 518,681 Tyler Apr. 24, 1894 1,912,416 Van Ausdol June 6, 1933 2,651,346 Nash Sept. 8,1953 2,685,114 Reiter Aug. 3, 1954 

